Supply Chain Management - I2 Technologies

Supply Chain Management has become the buzz word in the modern business. It has become part and parcel of efficiency improvement exercise in today’s business. The importance of SCM was also realized by the students pursuing PGPM at SPJIMR, Mumbai. So these sharp minds tried to delve further in the topic and invited a top notch supply chain professional from the leading Supply Chain Company “I2 Technologies”. Mr. Jiten Sandhu, Senior Director, I2 technologies was on the campus explaining the nuances of IT in Supply Chain Management on 9^th May, 2008.

Mr. Sandhu started with a video which was an eye opener and brought out the importance of SCM in the success or failure of any business. Then Mr. Sandhu started his power point presentation which was intellectually stimulating. But the participants of PGPM were also not be left behind. They bombarded Mr. Sandhu with questions and a person of his caliber was also left gasping for life. PGPM students brought out the nuances of the subject and the session was very interactive.

IT as we all know has become important support function of all the industries so much so that the new business models are being decided keeping IT in mind. In the areas of SCM also IT has started playing a very important role. The role that IT can play in making Supply Chain effective is tremendous. Mr. Sandhu explained these intricacies in details and the participants were spellbound by the way he handled this complex subject. He explained how IT has changed the way we look at the Supply Chain issues. He explained as to how IT can be used in the successful planning in today’s business. He explained as to how the IT has helped companies to evaluate alternatives, and make effective decisions at the speed of business change. IT tools enables companies to boost customer service levels due to increased product availability and improved responsiveness. Cash-to-cash cycles are lowered with synchronized planning and execution. Better decision-making using IT leads to reduced expediting costs and operating expenses. As productivity increases, companies reduce costs for system changes and upgrades, as well as improve the return on investment from information technology assets.

In a nutshell it was very stimulating session which both the students and Mr. Sandhu enjoyed, who was very impressed with the questions which the students asked. The importance of IT in Supply Chain and Supply Chain per se was realized. Many participants after attending the session have become very much interested in Supply Chain Management and have decided to make a carrier in the hot and happening field of SCM.

Rahula Kr Kashyapa,

PR Committee, PGPM

SPJIMR